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In this dissertation, I examine the challenges posed by climate change to the New Jersey shore region as well as efforts to inform and support successful adaptation policies. The core argument of the dissertation is the region needs transformational change in the near term if a socially and ecologically vibrant future is to be achieved. Informing the design and supporting the implementation of sustainable transformational pathways requires engaging with the deeply entrenched cultural, economic, and political commitments that configure contemporary development within the New Jersey shore region. By drawing upon archival and historical research along with semi-structured interviews and participant observation, I demonstrate that historical and contemporary processes have contributed to material and imaginative path dependencies within the shore region that have led to governance and management prioritizing private property rights and economic growth over ecological and social sustainability. I argue that to support more just and sustainable pathways, practitioners working within the boundaries of science and policy must engage more with the political, imaginative, and normative dimensions of collective life in the New Jersey shore region. In making this case, the dissertation is divided into two main sections. In Section One, I trace the historical development, entrenchment, and extension of the prevailing sociotechnical imaginary guiding development in the New Jersey shore region. In particular, I highlight how racism, capitalism, politics, and technological innovation all intersected to produce the contemporary space of the region. In doing so, I elucidate how historical forces are still present in the New Jersey shore landscape in the form of material infrastructure, public policy, and cultural visions of desirable life. In Section Two, I examine how ongoing initiatives to inform the creation of successful climate change policies must grapple with myriad constraints—including the historical ones described in Section One but also emergent ones due to climate change. In light of the numerous constraints to effective adaptation, I develop a heuristic to differentiate and connect individual barriers in order to help distinguish which factors drive slow and ineffective policy responses. By identifying and addressing such constraints, I argue it is possible to foster cascading change towards more desirable social and ecological arrangements. Following this, I provide an in-depth examination of how one initiative to provide municipal government actors with tailored and usable climate information succeeded in getting climate change adaptation on the policy agenda. I highlight the crucial role that boundary objects played in not only supporting collaboration, but also convening the process, securing buy-in, and implementing policies. At the same time, while the examined effort did manage to get municipal government elected officials and staff to begin planning for sea level rise, coastal flooding, and powerful storms, it did not lead to the transformational change commensurate with the plausible impacts of climate change in the coming decades. Thus, more work needs to be done to support systemic change that targets the central constraints to sustainable adaptation. In the conclusion, I develop the concept of ‘imaginative fit and interplay’ to help guide collaborative knowledge production initiatives in producing transformative knowledge. I also discuss future research to building off these insights to support transformative change towards a more socially just and ecologically vibrant New Jersey shore region.

We report on the formation of wrinkle-patterned surface morphologies in cesium formamidinium-based Cs(x)FA(1-y)Pb(I1-yBry)(3) perovskite compositions with x = 0-0.3 and y = 0-0.3 under various spin-coating conditions. By varying the Cs and Br contents, the perovskite precursor solution concentration and the spin-coating procedure, the occurrence and characteristics of the wrinkle-shaped morphology can be tailored systematically. Cs(0.17)FA(0.83)Pb(I0.83Br0.17)(3) perovskite layers were analyzed regarding their surface roughness, microscopic structure, local and overall composition, and optoelectronic properties. Application of these films in p-i-n perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with indium-doped tin oxide/NiOx/perovskite/C-60/bathocuproine/Cu architecture resulted in up to 15.3 and 17.0% power conversion efficiency for the flat and wrinkled morphology, respectively. Interestingly, we find slightly red-shifted photoluminescence (PL) peaks for wrinkled areas and we are able to directly correlate surface topography with PL peak mapping. This is attributed to differences in the local grain size, whereas there is no indication for compositional demixing in the films. We show that the perovskite composition, crystallization kinetics, and layer thickness strongly influence the formation of wrinkles which is proposed to be related to the release of compressive strain during perovskite crystallization. Our work helps us to better understand film formation and to further improve the efficiency of PSCs with widely used mixed-perovskite compositions.

The aim of this thesis is the identification and implementation of tailored light management textures for liquid phase crystallized silicon thin-film solar cells on glass. To do this, textures that combine excellent anti-reflective properties in the wavelength range of interest and a consistent silicon material quality compared to reference cells need to be established. Two approaches for light in-coupling at the front-side of liquid phase crystallized silicon thin-film solar cells are developed and investigated and a method for the production of tailor-made back-side textures is introduced. The findings may be used to provide improved light management and higher power conversion efficiencies in future cell designs for liquid phase crystallized silicon thin-film solar cells., Ziel dieser Arbeit ist die Identifikation und Implementierung von maßgeschneiderten Lightmanagement Texturen für flüssigphasenkristallisierten Silizium Dünnschicht-Solarzellen auf Glas. Um dieses Ziel zu erreichen, sollen Texturen entwickelt werden, die verbesserte anti-reflektierende Eigenschaften und eine gleichbleibende Materialqualität im Vergleich zu Referenzzellen vereinen. Zwei Ansätze zur Lichteinkopplung an der Vorderseite von flüssigphasenkristallisierten Silizium Dünnschicht-Solarzellen werden entwickelt und untersucht, und eine Methode zur Herstellung von maßgeschneiderten rückseitigen Texturen wird vorgestellt. Die Ergebnisse können zur Verbesserung von Lightmanagement und damit höherer Solarzellen-Effizienzen in flüssigphasenkristallisierten Silizium Dünnschicht-Solarzellen auf Glas beitragen.

The aim of this thesis is the identification and implementation of tailored light management textures for liquid phase crystallized silicon thin-film solar cells on glass. To do this, textures that combine excellent anti-reflective properties in the wavelength range of interest and a consistent silicon material quality compared to reference cells need to be established. Two approaches for light in-coupling at the front-side of liquid phase crystallized silicon thin-film solar cells are developed and investigated and a method for the production of tailor-made back-side textures is introduced. The findings may be used to provide improved light management and higher power conversion efficiencies in future cell designs for liquid phase crystallized silicon thin-film solar cells. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist die Identifikation und Implementierung von maßgeschneiderten Lightmanagement Texturen für flüssigphasenkristallisierten Silizium Dünnschicht-Solarzellen auf Glas. Um dieses Ziel zu erreichen, sollen Texturen entwickelt werden, die verbesserte anti-reflektierende Eigenschaften und eine gleichbleibende Materialqualität im Vergleich zu Referenzzellen vereinen. Zwei Ansätze zur Lichteinkopplung an der Vorderseite von flüssigphasenkristallisierten Silizium Dünnschicht-Solarzellen werden entwickelt und untersucht, und eine Methode zur Herstellung von maßgeschneiderten rückseitigen Texturen wird vorgestellt. Die Ergebnisse können zur Verbesserung von Lightmanagement und damit höherer Solarzellen-Effizienzen in flüssigphasenkristallisierten Silizium Dünnschicht-Solarzellen auf Glas beitragen.

On the rational group algebra QSn , the map given by g* = g -1, for g ∈ Sn, and extended linearly, is an involution. Since QSn is a semisimple algebra, it has a unique decomposition into simple two-sided ideals. We determine, for 3 ≤ n ≤ 5, the restriction of * to these simple two-sided ideals. This is accomplished using a positive definite symmetric bilinear form. Also, we construct a counterexample to part of a theorem found in The Representation Theory of the Symmetric Group by James and Kerber.